The two of us, Gaz and I, on our way to our destination of Monterrey, visited Potrero Chico and stayed several nights in La Posada, which has camping, hammocks over a pool, a nice restaurant, communal cooking area, a grocery store just a half mile back down the road, and Luigi’s pizza and climbing gear stand just below the walls. The area has been considered national park space since 1959, and caters to visiting climbers.
We’re officially in Monterrey as of three days ago, in the third largest city in Mexico, also known in the past two years as the murder capital of the world. The city has quieted down since 2012, and although no tourist hostels remain due to the drop off in travelers, and still many climbers hop over the border to multi-pitch in El Potrero Chico, sport climb in El Salto, and boulder in Penoles. The city is built on white concrete, and the mountains are shrouded in pollution and dust.
The climbing area we live near now is the Parque la Huasteca, which was developed decades ago and has a guidebook out by Ramon Narvaez, one of our roommates. (The canyon is massive, harboring caves and tall slabs prickled with lechuguilla, mala mujer, scorpions, centipedes, and hundreds of routes. On our last trip, a lechuguilla plant left a hand-sized bruise where it stabbed me in the leg, and we’ve heard of mala mujer giving massive, unpleasant rashes to one of the past developers. This week, we’ll be posting more photos of what we find.)
When I post tomorrow, I’ll take more pictures and share some video of the neighborhood.
The Alpine Addict 